David Norris (Independent) | Oireachtas source

The reasons I am doing this is, first, on behalf of the people, second, because I believe this is the only way in which this House can possibly justify its existence. It was some kind of brainwave of the Taoiseach to suggest that Seanad Éireann be abolished. It was popular with the people. It was a populist move. The people would love to get rid of 60 politicians and would love it equally well if it was 60 politicians in the Dáil or indeed the Taoiseach himself at the moment. We are confronted with the situation.

I would say to my colleagues over there that they are gone anyway unless they justify themselves. Why not behave for once in the same manner as you do when you speak so freely out on the plinth? Live up to those actions, stand up for the Republic and thereby justify our existence. If we lie down and do not protest, we are handing the argument to those opponents of Seanad Éireann who will say "Look at the lapdogs who did not even bark when the people were imperilled". I ask Members opposite to consider their situation. There are a large number of them who may, in hopes of a seat in the other House, decide cravenly to give in to the Government. They have a fat chance.

It is important that we also correct some of the things that were said. It was suggested that people are so much better off in this country than people in Holland. In Holland, they have a really good health service. A close friend whose wife suffered from multiple sclerosis took her immediately to Northern Ireland on his retirement because the services are so much better there. These things cannot be quantified in miserable budgetary terms. Even if one did, one would find that the abolition of the weekly PRSI threshold has an immensely magnified effect on the poorest. I am not taking this from Sinn Féin; I am taking it from the ESRI. I would not impugn Sinn Féin if its members did their sums correctly. The ESRI study of budget 2012 shows it was regressive, with reductions of 2% to 2.5% for those with the lowest incomes as against losses of approximately three quarters of a percent for those on the highest incomes. It shows that we are crucifying the most vulnerable. On those issues, we must stand up.

It is also important that some of those voices be heard. I have a small selection of the agonised e-mails that I and every other one of my colleagues have received. I am not making a party political point. There are decent people in every party and every corner of the House whose hearts ache as mine does. I ask Members to listen to these e-mails.

Once, I was the middle-class wife of a public servant. Now, I depend on welfare; not what I have worked and hoped for for 60 years. My car is being sold after Christmas. I have to get a car with a smaller engine so that I can afford to tax it. My three-year-old niece with an inoperable brain tumour will lose over ¤300 of her respite grant. Last year, the grant was used to purchase a pair of boots which cost ¤700 so that she could walk.

These are the human stories behind what we are being asked to do. We will support the Minister's hand in going back to Cabinet and asking that these cruel cuts not go through. Another e-mail states:

We are freezing, have no oil, the kids are wearing two layers and gloves. I am at my wits' end. Please do not push me any further by taking the little bit of money I am getting away.

I could not stand here and vote for these particular sections. I know we are in economic difficulty. Nobody needs to tell us. Nobody should dare to say that people use the money to go on holidays abroad. Perhaps that happened once, but I heard someone who had the audacity to say that respite carers should take their holidays in Ireland. What planet is that person living on? They are not taking holidays at all. Suppose carers did not love their family members and did not sacrifice their lives for them. Suppose they behaved callously. The State could not possibly afford it. Yet we are giving ¤4 billion to the Central Bank to burn.

We are not supposed to talk about the promissory note, but I demand the right to do so. I am not convinced by what is being said.

While we will hold the EU Presidency, Cyprus still has it. Has anybody heard of Cyprus? It is a Kitchener position no different to being on the front page of Timemagazine. I wonder if the penny has dropped? Our Minister for Finance does not even chair the meetings of finance Ministers. That shows how much effect we are going to have. I will vomit publicly if I ever again hear how well behaved we are. Even the Minister pointed out that there is no violence on our streets as there is in Greece. While I do not advocate it, we are too passive. We should surround the Central Bank on a particular day in our tens and hundreds of thousands and demonstrate to our masters in Europe the cost that is being bled out of the people of Ireland by measures like this. I will support the Minister if she renegotiates.